New Reporting Network Enhances Corporate Transparency.

Business Editors

BRATTLEBORO, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2004

SRI World Group, Inc., a leading provider of social investment and corporate responsibility information services, today announced the launch of OneReport(TM), the world's first Web-based reporting system that

seamlessly connects publicly traded companies with the firms that research social, environmental, and corporate governance performance for institutional investors (www.one-report.com). Over 50 multi-national companies from around the world, including 22 Fortune 100 companies, participated in the development of OneReport.

More than 20 research firms covering 4,000 companies in 25 countries worldwide will be collecting sustainability data through OneReport. These firms use sustainability data to create indexes and research products that are used by institutional investors to help make investment and proxy voting decisions.

In addition to consolidating data requests from research firms, OneReport offers data management tools that enable companies to collect, review and approve a wide range of sustainability data from different departments. OneReport also features data distribution and Web reporting tools. Companies can use OneReport to create reports based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.

"OneReport will help DuPont distribute its corporate sustainability data in a common format for analysis and ratings," according to Dawn Rittenhouse, Director of Sustainability at DuPont. "OneReport will also save us time and money," continued Rittenhouse.

Over the past 10 years, specialized corporate research firms and other organizations have been using surveys to collect much of their data. Their growing numbers, complexity, and overlap have led to what is commonly known as "survey fatigue" amongst companies and the research community.

"OneReport is the first true solution to survey fatigue," said Jay Falk, President of SRI World Group. "In addition to streamlining the reporting process, OneReport will reduce the overall cost of sustainability reporting," he added.

"Shell is proud to be a founding member of OneReport, which we see as a promising way to help companies report more transparently, consistently and efficiently on their environmental and social performance," said Mark Weintraub, Director Sustainable Development Strategy, Policy & Reporting at Shell.

AccountAbility's AA1000 Assurance Standard provides the basis for additional functionality to assist users in determining the quality of assurance of the data. "OneReport should provide a flexible platform for companies to deliver material information about their sustainability performance, a crucial piece of the accountability puzzle going forward," according to Simon Zadek, CEO of London-based AccountAbility.